The glee club sat excitedly on a Monday afternoon waiting for Mr. Schuester and Mr. Hudson to walk in with big smiles on their faces and carrying their 1st place Regionals trophy. They weren't disappointed. Just a few minutes later the duo came running in, grinning ear to ear. Finn placed their trophy in their growing winning case as Mr. Schue clapped his hands.
"Nice job, guys!" Mr. Schuester said happily. "We finally worked as a team and look at how well we did." The rest of the kids clapped as Finn stepped forward next.
"Now, we have to set our sights on Nationals. But first, we have a surprise for you."
"Another boy band mash-up by you and Mr. Schue?" Marley asked. The rest of the glee club nodded and applauded in agreement. Finn looked at Will. They had not prepared anything, but he didn't get the chance to sing much anymore, and things with Will, while better, were still a bit tense. Maybe one more duet would get the over that last hurdle. Will laughed but shook his head 'no'.
"Sorry, guys, no performance from us today," Mr. Schuester began. "Your surprise is that you have this whole week off! Now, I know some of you might be worried about losing rehearsal time for Nationals, but, I want you to, over this week, rest your voices, get as much as your schoolwork done ahead of time as possible, and start brainstorming ideas for a set list. The theme will be released sometime this week, they've told me. Sound good?" The glee club smiled in agreement. "Alright then, you can go. Be prepared to work hard next week." The students collected their things and said goodbye to their teachers on their way out.
Finn smiled back at the kids absentmindedly, his mind focused instead on Mr. Schue. Did he really just want the kids to leave at a decent time, hence the skipping their requested duet, or was Mr. Schue still upset at Finn and didn't want to sing with him? He hoped it was the former. He had apologized and done everything he could think of to make up for what he did. And while Mr. Schue had said he had forgiven Finn, Finn still felt that things had not gone back to the way they were before, and maybe they never would.
"Finn?" Mr. Schue called. Finn snapped his head in Will's direction. "How about we grab a cup of coffee?"